Ecological risks associated with changes in land use in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Changes in land use patterns in three periods of 1980, 2000 and 2015 in the Yangtze River Economic Belt were used to construct an ecological risk index, to analyze temporal and spatial changes in ecological risks and response characteristics to changes in land use．From 1980-2015, land use changes in the Yangtze River Economic Belt mainly showed a sharp increase in construction land and a sharp decrease in cultivated land and grassland．Ecological risks and land uses in the Yangtze River Economic Belt showed significant spatial positive correlation．The spatial-temporal differentiation of land use ecological risk was significant．The upper and lower reaches were dominated by low ecological risk areas, the middle reaches showed wide distribution in ecological risk．The upper reaches showed long-term dispersion in high-risk agglomeration related areas．In the middle reaches risk agglomeration diminished after 2000, but high risk agglomeration was concentrated in Dongting Lake\Poyang Lake area．Risk was rather scattered in other periods．Low-risk cluster autocorrelation areas were widely distributed in the lower reaches, while high-risk cluster autocorrelation areas were less so．These works provide targeted and differentiated ideas and suggestions for land remediation and restoration, and for the promotion of sustainable land use．